Front Porch Blog
Updates from Appalachia
Building energy-resilient communities in far Southwest Virginia
Whether it’s a medical device, like a CPAP machine, or heating and cooling during extreme temperatures, electricity is an important part of a community’s overall resilience. This is especially true during local disasters and power outages.
Coal bankruptcies continue to put a strain on communities
It is far too easy for coal companies to use bankruptcy to effectively hit a reset button. Once they file for bankruptcy, damages they caused and obligations they committed to are often no longer their responsibility.
Appalachian Voices partners with Black By God to examine air quality in West Virginia’s African American communities
Appalachian Voices is launching a new partnership with Black By God, a Black-led news and storytelling organization, with a publication of the same name, in West Virginia. Black By God is dedicated to providing a more nuanced portrayal of African Americans in the Mountain State and the Appalachian region than is often found in other media sources.
Rule to protect miners from silica falls short
In April, the Mine Safety and Health Administration announced the final version of a rule meant to protect coal miners from respirable silica. The announcement was a long time coming.
The slow, steady process of making regulators and coal companies monitor pollution
In late summer of 2022, Appalachian Voices discovered selenium, a common pollutant associated with coal mining, in high concentrations in certain streams in the Big Sandy River watershed in Pike County, Kentucky. These waterways receive runoff from the S-1 Hunts Branch Surface Mine, a nearly 2,000-acre mountaintop removal coal mine operated by Lexington Coal Company.
